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CNN Live At Daybreak

Recovery of Bodies from Flight 587 Almost Complete

Aired November 13, 2001 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Three minutes -- that's all the time that American Airlines flight 587 had in the air before crashing into New York's Rockaways neighborhood. CNN's Jason Carroll was there just moments after the crash and he's back with us live this morning.

Jason, late night and early morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely Kyra, I can tell you that the recovery of the victims at this point is almost complete and the focus at this point is more on the investigation and the cleanup. The landscape of this neighborhood changed forever yesterday morning -- early yesterday morning at about 9:17 a.m.

That's when the American Airlines Airbus 300 disappeared from radar -- it was about 2800 feet. Witnesses told me when I was out here yesterday, Kyra, that at first it sounded like a loud boom. In fact, it sounded like a sonic boom to some people. Some folks perhaps it was the Concorde taking off from JFK Airport, which is located only about five miles from here.

When they went outside to see what was going on, they saw a plane -- they said it was on fire. It broke apart and then crashed into the neighborhood. Kyra, I can tell you it was a fiery scene. There was thick, black smoke just about everywhere you looked. Nearly a dozen homes were damaged in the crash. Four homes were destroyed. The crash devastated this community and an airline.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well it's a sad and it's a tragic day for us at American Airlines for the city of New York and I want to express my deepest sorrow and sympathy to the families of our passengers and our employees who were lost today and to those missing here in New York.

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CARROLL: Two hundred sixty-five bodies were recovered. Two hundred sixty people were on board. Six people missing from the ground. The NTSB was able to recover several parts of the -- some parts found in Jamaica Bay located not too far from here. NTSB was also able to recover the cockpit voice recorder.

A team of 100 people will take part in the investigation. At this point, the evidence seems to suggest this was some sort of accident. The investigation will move forward and so does the identification of the victims.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The medical examiner who has been under tremendous stress in handling the World Trade Center has organized this effort again and seems to have organized it really very, very professional. So we're hopeful that we can assist these families in identifying their loved ones as quickly as possible. I don't know if we can do it with every single one, but we'll try at best we can.

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CARROLL: Kyra, once again it appears at this point, all the evidence seems to suggest that this was some sort of an accident. But I also want to point out that at this point investigators are saying nothing is being ruled out.

Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jason Carroll, thanks so much.

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